


The Gift

by lintwhite



Category: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 11:09:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1093188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lintwhite/pseuds/lintwhite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Artemis gives Holly the ultimate present for Christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [slytheringurrl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytheringurrl/gifts).



Holly stared up at the towering Christmas tree, presiding over the great room like a mountain, all white lights and shimmering glass bulbs, a small army of presents beneath it. This was one Mud Man tradition in particular that always struck an odd chord within Holly: the desecration of a living thing for decoration. But then again, she had long since stopped trying to understand the strained relationship between man and nature.

Holly had initially been contacted by Butler, inviting her to spend Christmas Eve with Artemis and his family. The fair folk didn't celebrate the Mud Man holiday; her people weren't religious in the same sense that humans were, although its pagan origins intrigued Holly. She had eventually declined Butler's offer, not out of unkindness, but because she could not imagine herself situated in the room she sat now, watching Artemis' family decorate their tree, drinking mulled cider, trying to put on a happy front for the newly resurrected Artemis. Butler had argued she was as much a part of the family as any of them were but Holly still insisted on leaving this time for them and them alone. It felt strange to intrude, as welcome as she was. 

But against her better judgment, she came, just as the family was ushering Myles and Beckett upstairs with promises of Santa Claus. Artemis was nowhere to be found, which did not surprise Holly. Despite all her and Butler's best efforts, he continued to be strikingly different than the boy she had once known. She had to remind herself sometimes that the soul was the same. Nothing could change what had originally made him Artemis, not even death. It was just that the vessel containing the soul was different. But this, too, still disturbed Holly. It was not the same body that had gone on so many adventures with her. It was not the same body his mother had held. It was nothing more than a clone, an imitation, holding the real essence of Artemis.

And yet, despite that essence still being untainted, there was still that noticeable difference in his demeanor, something slight she could not put her finger on. Perhaps it was the look in his eyes. He had listened patiently to the story she (and sometimes Butler) had told him, although it was impossible to expect him to fully comprehend it. After all, she and Butler were essentially telling him he was a ghost come back to life, and he could remember nothing of his previous existence. Bits and pieces would come to him, only to flicker out and disappear entirely. It was frustrating, to say the least, and she could not imagine the mental impact this had on his mother, who had mourned for her son, only to have him return to her, changed. Holly had thought of all the people she had lost over the years and imagined the same scenario and how she would feel if any of them suddenly came to life again. It was a disturbing thought.

Holly gingerly took a sip from the steaming mug of cider Butler had brought her (it was a child-sized one used by Artemis’ brothers.) She felt it warm her slowly as it she drank. She wasn’t cold, not really; her suit kept out the chill that would have frozen her solid during flight and kept the ice and snow melted enough for her gear to function. Yet she still felt a strange coldness inside, a lingering feeling of sadness in the back of her mind that she could not quite understand. She suddenly felt silly, sitting there and thinking of all this, when it was Christmas, a time when Mud Men and the fairies who were dragged into the holiday were supposed to be happy. It wasn’t like her to dwell on things she could not change. It was unhealthy, for one, and she needed a solid mental state for her line of work. Not that sitting beneath a behemoth of a Christmas tree and drinking cider was “her work” but somehow, it felt like it. She had made it her priority to put Artemis back together again, no matter what it took.

Butler came strolling into the room, wearing, Holly noted for the first time, a rather festive tie. “Artemis will be down in a minute,” he said, taking a seat opposite Holly. “He has a present for you.”

“Oh?” Holly couldn’t help but notice there was something different about Butler’s demeanor. It was different than the man who had brought her cider not thirty minutes past. It was different than the man who had witnessed Artemis’s rebirth and reeducation. Something has happened, she thought to herself. She could not hope to wish it was what she had dreamed of; she was not fond of setting herself up for crushing disappointment. But there was always that part of her that held a candle lit for the true return of Artemis and always would.

Somewhere in the house, a grandfather clock had begun to chime and Holly realized that it was now Christmas Day. In just a few hours, Myles and Beckett would come running down the staircase and ripping into their presents. Holly set down her mug and picked up a present nearest her chair labeled “Artemis.” 

“I wonder what’s in it?” she whispered, more to herself than Butler. “What do you get the boy who had been given the ultimate gift of life once again?”

Holly did not hear him come into the room but merely felt his presence. He seemed almost nervous, standing in the doorway, wearing, instead of his trademark suit, a dark red shirt and gray slacks. But there was something in the look he gave her as he came closer that made her heart begin to beat wildly in excitement. It was the look she had seen countless times before. It was a look reserved for a friend who has been through hell and back with them.

She stood up. “Artemis?” she said quietly, cautiously.

“Holly,” he said simply. “I remember.”


End file.
